


Makeshift family

by Ruquas



Series: Marvel Bingo 2019 [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Insecure Tony, Insecurity, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, marvelbingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-04-24 19:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19180255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruquas/pseuds/Ruquas
Summary: The different ways the team tries to show Tony that they are family and that they have his back.





	1. Peter Parker

**Author's Note:**

> Tags are already finished, nothing will be added anymore unless you see that I forgot something. Then please tell me so.
> 
> The story is already completely written and will be updated every two days.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marvelbingo O2: Peter Parker

**Peter Parker**

„What do you mean, that there won‘t be a party?“

It would‘ve been quite funny how confused Peter looked wouldn‘t there be the hurt look on his face, too. 

„He doesn‘t celebrate.“, Natasha just answered, not looking up from her cereals. Even for her it was difficult to withstand Peter‘s puppy eyes.

„But… why? I mean, he will be fifty. That‘s… a pretty big number, I mean, not big in like old but more like in… wow!“, Peter tried again but Rhodey just shook his head.

„No, kid. Tony doesn‘t celebrate his birthday. Not since MIT. It‘s not… he just doesn‘t get that people would be happy to celebrate for him because he‘s there and alive. For him, birthdays were always big parties with a lot of alcohol and indecent press afterwards. So, just let it rest. It will be a normal day like every other day, got it?“

Peter gaped at his mentor‘s best friend and nodded. Everyone should have their birthday celebrated. And Mr. Stark‘s excuse sounded… shitty at best. Not that he would ever tell him that, no thank you. He liked being an Avenger and an intern at Stark Industries, thank you very much.

But still, he wouldn‘t let it be a day like any other. That was just not… it was fifty, after all!

~*~*~

Tiredly, Tony stumbled into the kitchen, desperately trying to remember why he had decided to wake up this early. It wasn‘t even seven a.m. Well, probably because it was the only day all year where he had something like a sleeping schedule, god knows.

„FRIDAY, coffee.“, he grumbled and was thankful when the coffee machine began to make it‘s grinding sounds, the A.I. not answering. Then he saw it, sitting there on the kitchen counter, looking almost innocent.

The box seemed to be wrapped by a six year old in red wrapping paper. So that excluded Pepper. And Rhodey, because Rhodey could wrap presents like a god. Also, both would never ever put something like _that_ on the counter, plain in sight. Shortly, he wondered if he should just throw it in the trash.

„At least open it. You can pretend it doesn‘t exist in a few minutes.“, he heard Rhodey murmuring behind him, going to the counter and pushed the gift over to Tony.

 _For Mr. Stark_ , it was written on a small card attached to the present and Tony sighed. Of course, only the kid would wrap a gift like an _actual_ kid.

„Why is it here?“

„Peter was crushed when he heard that you‘re not celebrating. We told him you wouldn‘t want anything, but it seems he still wanted to give you something.“, Rhodey explained, pushing a cup of coffee to Tony, looking slightly surprised when Tony ignored it.

It had been years since he got a personally wrapped present, Tony realized. The last one probably… well, from Rhodey. Carefully, he opened and then the box inside it, feeling his throat closing up. Inside were small cakes. They weren‘t even really good looking because they were obviously self-made and he hadn‘t even thought that the kid knew how to use an oven, but they were there. And with them another card.

_Happy Birthday Mr. Stark!_  
Colonel Rhodes said you don‘t celebrate and that‘s cool, because everyone just like they want, but I still think everyone should get cake on their birthday. It‘s a receipt from my mum, and I tasted it, it tastes pretty good, it just doesn‘t look good. Not perfect or anything, but I hope you like it.  
I am happy that you exist! 

Tony swallowed and looked to Rhodey, who just smiled slightly.

„Well, try it. First bite to the birthday boy and all.“

He would never tell Peter, but it probably was the best cake next to Ana Jarvis‘ cake Tony ever tasted.


	2. Clint Barton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Marvelbingo: G3 - Clint Barton

**Clint Barton**

Sighing, Clint looked at the mess in the living room. He had three kids. One of them a toddler. One of them a whirlwind, pretending to be a cute little girl. And one boy who slowly but sure tried to test his old man‘s limits.

Nothing, really nothing was as exhausting as… this.

The room was trashed. There was no other word for it. The sofa pillows were ripped, the couch table was broken, two of the shelves were laying on the ground. Glass shards were laying all over the floor and it reeked far worse than it ever reeked in his old man‘s house when Clint was just a wee boy and there was more whiskey stains on the ground than he could‘ve count.

Now it was probably more whiskey bottles than he could count, but well… not really a difference. And in the middle of the mess, on the ground with his knees pulled up to his chest, sat Tony, face red as if he‘d been crying.

„What exactly happened here?“, Clint asked while walking over to his friend, gently prying the bottle out of the of the other man‘s hand. Confused, Tony looked up.

„T‘ld JARVIS to lock ever‘one out.“, Tony mumbled and then gestures at Clint like he couldn‘t really believe that he was real. And then he pressed a finger to Clint‘s nose and giggled. It was almost cute.

„FRIDAY did but the vents are only in lockdown when it‘s a biohazard.“, Clint explained softly and Tony looked crushed. No matter what he wanted to pretend, he missed JARVIS. Then he looked angry.

„G‘way.“, Tony muttered and tried to slap at Clint‘s hand. Clint shook his head and pulled Tony up.

„Nonono, g‘way, bi‘brain.“, Tony tried again just to almost fall forward. Clint stopped him from falling flat on his face.

„Let‘s get you to bed. And in the morning, I probably need the number of whoever can fix this mess.“, Clint murmured and got slapped in the face. Not hard, mind you. But still, even uncoordinated it hurt.

„G‘way. Why care?“, Tony grumbled, looking around and seemed to realize that the room… looked like it did.

„It broke.“, he said, wonder in his voice. Clint laughed lightly and tried to pull Tony further to the door.

„Yeah, it broke. Happens. And I care because you‘re a real pain in the ass when you‘re hungover, and you could bleed out when you stay here or die from alcohol poisoning. None of them sounds good, right?“

Tony frowned, as if he would actually think about it before shrugging.

„Don‘t matter.“

This time, it was Clint‘s turn to frown while opening the door with the override code no one except Tony should know.

„Well, for me it matters.“

„You c‘n stay, ev‘n when I‘m gone.“, Tony slurred. „Peppa put it in papers an‘ shit. Don‘t have to w‘rry about finding som‘wh‘re else t‘stay.“.

Ah, the wonderful wonders of Tony Stark‘s brain.

„Yeah, that‘s nice. But you wouldn‘t be here, and that would be a shame. I like you, it‘s always stupid to loose friends. I would need to look for a new one, and it’s going to be difficult to find one like you, so… no, no going away.“

Tony was silent on the way to his bedroom and when Clint sat him down on his bed, telling him to undress while he fetched a glass of water and some tylenol for the morning, he was quite surprised that Tony was down to his boxers when he came back into the bedroom.

„Friends?“, Tony asked, looking confused. Almost hopeful. Clint smiled and pushed Tony down and under the covers.

„Sure. Why else would I make sure you‘re not dying?“, he asked, ignoring the muttered „M‘ney.“, from Tony.

„Goodnight, Tony.“, Clint said, answered by a slight snoring sound.

When Laura called a few days later to tell Clint to thank Tony for Lila‘s new bow and Nate‘s new Lego‘s and Cooper‘s new robot, Clint just shook his head and fetched a cup of coffee from the kitchen, walking down to the lab.


	3. Stephen Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Marvel Bingo 2019. Square: B1 - Stephen Strange

**Stephen Strange**

„Don’t wanna.“

Stephen sighed and ignored the other man in favor of disinfecting his hands. He was painfully reminded of his days as an assistant doctor where he had to work in the children‘s ward for a few weeks. But they at least they knew that they needed to play along to get better. And he was sure that Tony knew it, too. On some kind of intellectual level.

„I don‘t care. Your throat is raw, the ‚mild headaches‘ you‘re complaining about are probably more on the side of a full grown migraine and if you take a breath I can even hear without stethoscope that you have issues with breathing. So, lay down, get rest, shut up and try to get better.“, Stephen said, trying to remain as calm as possible. The idiot was lucky. A few days later and he would‘ve probably developed a pneumonia. Probably will, if he continues like that.

He sighed and looked at his shaking hands, trying to ignore the pain in them, trying to ignore that this wasn‘t really his job. Not anymore. 

„Aren‘t you a neuro...something? And not an internist?“, Tony whined but he laid down. It was a beginning.

„Neurosurgeon, yes. I still had to study medicine to become one. So stop whining, just because you‘re an engineer doesn‘t mean you can‘t change a light bulb, doesn‘t it?“

Tony pouted. For god-sake pouted. Stephen rolled his eyes and opened a portal.

„I swear to god, I tell Thor to watch over you when you‘re not doing as you told and will pretend that you have a sickness that kills normal human beings and the only way to cure you is to stay in bed for weeks. Don‘t think I won‘t do it. I will come back in a few hours to check in on you. Sleep.“

~*~*~

Even though Tony really didn‘t want to admit it, a few days later he felt better. Not fine, not completely healthy, sure but better. It was still unexpected when a portal opened right in his workshop (Stephen had cleared him for light work, he did!) and Wong came out of it, staring at him with anger in his eyes.

„Uhm… hi?“

„Seriously, Stark? No thank you or anything?“

Confused, he looked at Wong. The monk sighed and gave him a slap across his head. A light one.

„Stephen cared for you for days, he got sick and then got better again and you don‘t even say thank you?“

„I paid him! I transferred an appropriate amount to his bank account!“, Tony defended himself, because he knew how much a doctor cost, no matter what people said. And he especially knew what a doctor with Stephen‘s skill set charged.

The cross look on Wong‘s face didn‘t disappear.

„Money? That‘s… god, Stark. The man‘s hands were hurting for days even before you got sick. Did he tell you that? No, probably not.“

Tony swallowed. Stephen usually avoided working with his hands, _that_ Tony knew. But when they were hurting the doctor usually abstained from human contact until it got better. Well, more abstaining from human contact than usual.

„Let me guess, and you didn‘t notice. You matter to him. Whatever shit goes up in your head, you matter enough for him to hurt himself. Just… don‘t think you can answer this with money.“, Wong now murmured, voice sounding slightly defeated. Tony shook his head, staring ahead. Then Wong was gone. Tony knew he couldn‘t. Sighing, he grabbed his phone and scrolled down, hoovering over Stephen‘s name shortly before pressing call.

„What?“

„Uhm, hey.“, Tony said, irritated that Stephen answered as fast as he did. His voice sounded off.

„Can I help you Stark? Or do you just want to annoy me today?“

„Uhm, no. Just… wanted to thank you. You know, for taking care while I was sick. So, thanks.“

Silence. Tony shortly wondered if Stephen had just hung up on him when there was a new sound.

„No problem. Anything else?“

„No, nothing, I just...“, Tony started and then the line definitely went dead.

Maybe Wong had been wrong? Well, probably, the guy knew a lot but not everything. 

And why had Stephen sounded so scratchy?


	4. Natasha Romanov

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marvelbingo; N2 - Natasha Romanoff

**Natasha Romanov**

Silently, she shook her head while looking around. The lab was cold. Too cold. Even though something had to be burning. Or had been burning. At least it smelled like that and the robot made strange beeping noises while… rotating in a circle? Well, better not to ask. She doubted that the robot could understand her anyway.

„FRIDAY, where is Tony?“, she asked, still looking for the mechanic. He had promised her to finish the spider bits. He told her to come here today.

„He‘s in the lab downstairs.“, FRIDAY answered and Natasha went down to the other lab, finally finding out what smelled like burning rubber. Or why Dum-E was just rotating. He couldn‘t step down the ladder. Natasha sighed and unplugged the soldering iron before carefully removing the melted plastic. The beeping noise from the robot fell silent.

Her prototypes for her new spider-bits were laying on the table, still looking like before. She sighed and looked around, finding Tony finally slumped over a projection for the spider-bits, a simulation running non-stop. It was more than obvious that he had fallen asleep. A short look to the couch and she made her decision. It was comfier than sleeping bend over a table.

„Hey. Tony.“, she said, touching the older man‘s shoulder slightly, stepping a bit back when he literally jumped up, looking around without any orientation. When he saw her, his face fell.

„Natasha.“, he said, his gaze falling on the simulation and then the prototypes.

„Couch.“, she ordered and pushed him to the piece of furniture she was sure was just here so that he could catch a bit of sleep.

„No, not necessary. I promised you your new toys and….“

„They are not important. The old ones are working fine. You, on the other hand? No. You need sleep.“, she said, pushing Tony firmly down and looking for a blanket which magically fell down the stairs. Good robot. She had to remind herself to pat it when going up again.

„Hey, a promise shouldn‘t be broken.“, Tony yawned while she fetched the blanket and laid it over Tony, ignoring his mumbled protests.

„Yeah. And your bones shouldn‘t get broken on the next mission. But they will if you don‘t get sleep. So sleep. Prototypes can be finished later.“, she said, waiting until Tony‘s breathing evened out before climbing upstairs again, petting the beeping robot who beeped excited before disappearing.


	5. Steve Rogers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marvelbingo; I3 - Steve Rogers

**Steve Rogers**

He knew he was nagging. He knew that he fell on Tony‘s nerves and that Tony really didn‘t want to talk to him. He also knew that Tony was as stubborn as Steve himself was and Steve knew that this would led to his and therefore also to Tony‘s own downfall. And still, he tried. To at least understand Tony‘s position. He just wasn‘t sure that Tony had tried the same. Probably, because the older man wasn‘t unreasonable. Just… stubborn. And he really, really didn‘t like to stand in front of Coulson‘s door, to nervous to knock, almost as if he had been ordered to the principals office.

He still knocked. Because no matter what everyone thought, he really cared about Tony.

„Come in.“, Coulson‘s voice sounded from the inside and Steve stepped in. The office looked different than it had when Fury had used it. It was strange how an office could change without really changing anything in layout.

„Captain, sit down. How can I help you?“, Coulson asked and closed the file in front of him.

„I prefer to stand, thank you. I‘m here about Tony Stark.“, he said, back straight, but looking at Coulson, who raised an eyebrow.

„Captain, I think whatever dispute you have with Mr. Stark should be handled...“, Coulson began and Steve hated himself a bit for ignoring the manners his mother had taught him, even if people thought different.

„The dispute is about broken bones, Sir. Three ribs, two fingers from the left hand and a concussion. And those are just the obvious injuries I can see and that I know of. Additional to that Tony has been limping for a few days and doesn‘t explain why. I understand that it‘s not one of your concerns, and I understand that the Avengers aren‘t your responsibility, neither is Iron Man but maybe… I don‘t know, maybe don‘t call him the next few weeks?“, Steve asked and sighed, rubbing a hand through his face and hair.

„He‘s refusing any medical help, even from Bruce. I tried to get him to the doctors at S.H.I.E.L.D., I tried to have Dr. Strange look him over but Tony shut the door in our face before I could even start. Tony ignored everyone. He even shut out Bruce. Please. Just a few weeks. Tony even asked me for a few hours time to rest before I, I quote, _start nagging him and acting like a mother hen.‘_ “

Coulson looked… well, surprised would probably be the correct word for it.

„You already tried to get him the needed medical help?“

Steve nodded, feeling miserable. He just wanted to make Tony feel better, to help him heal. Coulson sighed and nodded.

„I won‘t say that I‘m surprised that he‘s hurt, but I admit that I‘m surprised that he‘s hurting that much. Just… tell me when he‘s better again, Captain. And make sure to take care of him.“

„Thank you, Sir.“, Steve replied sincerely and went out of the office.

He really wanted to help Tony. And he really wanted to strangle… he didn‘t even knew who he needed to strangle, because the list with people who made Tony believe that his own well-being wasn‘t as important as _‘business‘_ as Tony had put it was probably longer than anything Steve ever saw, but he also knew that most of them were dead and the others weren‘t worth it.

He just hoped that Tony could now rest for a few days just how he had asked Steve to let him do.


	6. Bucky Barnes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marvelbingo2019; Square N3 - Free

**Bucky Barnes**

„Why you do that? It didn‘t do anything to you!“, Tony practically yelled and craddled the cup to his chest, trying to protect it from Bucky, even though it was to late. He just laughed, didn‘t move from his seat. It was probably a stupid idea to anger the man who was fixing his arm, but it was fun. 

„Because your coffee tastes like shit, Stark. It tastes even worse than the sludge we had in the war to keep us awake. And can you even imagine how bad that tasted? It‘s just sugar, so shut it.“

Tony looked at him, faux-hurt in his eyes, still cradling the mug of coffee in his hand, then looking sadly at it before setting it down, shoving it to Bucky.

„Here. You already ruined it, now make it go away. I fix… whatever it was that you did to your arm. Seriously, do I even want to know why exactly you have lube in your arm plates?“

Bucky blinked and tried to look as innocently as he could

„You know, sometimes when people really really like each other, they want to stick body parts into each other bodies and then sometimes it‘s their penis, sometimes….“, he started and laughed when Tony shrieked and clasped his hands over his ears.

„NANANANA! I CAN‘T HEAR YOU!“, the other man yelled but he was still smiling. His eyes were smiling. He was one of the few people that didn‘t treated Bucky like a monster or a fragile time bomb or whatever. And even though Stark would never admit it – he hated that the others sometimes treated him like that, too.

The other man put his hands down and looked cautious at him.

„No more torture?“, he asked and Bucky shook his head.

„Y‘know, Buckaroo, sometimes I think you‘re the only one willing to see that I‘m just… me. But if you ever tell anyone that, I will deny it and put superglue in Steve‘s lube.“, Tony whispered, eyes fixated on Bucky‘s arm again.

Mission successful, Tony admitted that he liked Bucky and that he made him feel normal.

„Why Steve‘s? I mean, that would be funny, but what do I have to do with Steve‘s lube? You would just piss Natalia off.“, he asked and basked in the horrified look that crossed Tony‘s face.

He needed to remind himself to check his own and Sam‘s lube the next few days.


	7. Bruce Banner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Marvel Bingo 2019; N4 - Bruce Banner

**Bruce Banner**

No matter what most people thought why he liked Tony, it had nothing to do with the way Tony poked at him the first time they met. Sure, it was nice to have a change from the constant fear but they had to stay honest – Bruce himself knew that he wasn‘t the most impressive guy and he had his fair share of trouble overseas.

No, the first time he met Tony, he just thought the same like probably every other person on this planet about Tony Stark – loud, arrogant, obnoxious, smart-ass. No matter how intelligent, there were just some character traits that were unnerving.

So it was quite a surprise to find himself liking Tony. The man was kind, tried to care for everyone and everything and most times even tried to accept that he wasn‘t larger than life – or better than everyone else.

Even more of a surprise was it, that the Other Guy took a liking to Tony, who usually didn‘t like other people. He liked Clint good enough, but probably because the Other Guy couldn‘t really associate Clint with anything, he was just a springing and hopping purple ball on the battle field and that was okay for the Other Guy.

When Bruce had asked Tony why he wasn‘t bothered by the Other Guy, Tony had just shrugged and told him that he didn‘t judge. That people were always judging Tony but to the Other Guy? He was just another puny, tiny human could be smashed.

And yeah, Bruce could understand that. And after a few months living with Tony, Bruce could also understand what exactly Tony meant. It was the third day full of press conferences and people blaming Tony for some kind of fallout where Stark Industries weapons had been used. But there was one reporter, who was especially unnerving him, Bruce and the Other Guy likewise. Sandro… something. Bruce never cared enough to learn his name. 

So when Sandro Something accused Tony in the middle of the street of purposefully ignoring where his weapons went and just caring about the next warm body for his bed, Bruce maybe hit the guy. With a bit of the strength from the Other Guy. Breaking his jaw. He _may_ even threatened him to never even come near one of the Avengers or Tony again.

Maybe.

Tony had been staring at him, gaping, and Bruce just shrugged and continued to walk down the street, ignoring the thankful glance Tony threw at him while dialing 9-1-1.

Just because Bruce had been one of the people who had judged Tony (and he could never pretend otherwise and both of them knew that) he could at least try to let people judge the other man for being who he really was and not for something some asshole reporter twisted him into.


	8. Tony Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Marvelbingo 2019; I5 - Tony Stark

**Tony Stark**

Smiling, he watched them playing in the common room. Well, playing probably wasn‘t the correct term for it. Neither was fighting. They were acting like children – and he knew how children acted, obviously, Pepper compared him to a child often enough. 

It was still nice to see them act like nothing could ever touch them. Thor was joking with Steve while Bucky was faux-chasing Clint around the couch because Clint seemed to have stolen Bucky‘s pizza. Probably, even though he wouldn‘t eat it. Bucky was the only person here who liked Pizza Hawaii. Freak. Natasha sat on the couch, feet in Bruce‘s lap while pretending to read with Bruce actually reading. And Sam was playing video games with Pietro, Peter and fucking Stephen Strange. That was probably the creepiest one. And god knows where Wanda and Vision were. He probably didn‘t even want to think about it.

Almost like a family. On some days he could even believe that he was part of it. That he wasn‘t just a way for them to have a nice house and nice things. He knew that wasn‘t it, but knowing and believing were two different things. 

A loud crash pulled him out of his thoughts.

„Buckaroo….“, he said disappointed and looked at the couch table. It had barely been fixed from his own outburst.

„Clint stole my pizza.“

„It‘s a disgusting monstrosity. I did a favor to human kind!“

„Says the guy who‘s dipping fucking pickles in Nutella and then proceeds to drown them in pepper!“

Tony sighed and shook his head.

„Could you please try not to act as the kids you are?“, Strange said, voice impersonal as always. Bucky and Clint both stared at him.

„Says the world class neurosurgeon, who‘s now a powerful sorcerer that‘s getting his ass kicked at Mario Kart?“, Steve asked, voice entirely to serious for the conversation. Tony laughed and went to the kitchen, where a pizza box laid on the counter. A look inside confirmed that it was Bucky‘s.

„Hey, I didn‘t do anything!“, he heard Peter squeaking from the common room, followed by laughter.

Yeah. They were a family and he belonged to them. At least on his good days.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Marvelbingo 2019](https://marvelbingo.tumblr.com/), which can also be found here on AO3. Every chapter is a seperate Bingo Card Square.
> 
> You can find [my Tumblr here](https://ruquas-dreambell.tumblr.com/). If you have a request or anything, just let me know it there :)


End file.
